Lumus-Optical unveils microdisplay-packin' designer glasses

While we admire the effort of those gaudy, unsightly microdisplay-equipped goggles to bring big screen theatrics to the front of your face, they aren't likely to win any style contests, nor help you garner any friendly attention. An Israeli company, dubbed Lumus-Optical, is looking to change all that by offering up a relatively normal looking set of spectacles with twin microdisplays and mini projectors. The firm's latest prototype boasts dual 640 x 480 resolution displays as well as a wee projector on the arm; the Lumus glasses can accept video inputs via an undisclosed connection, and projects an image akin to a "60-inch screen from 10 feet away." Its Light-guide Optical Element (LOE) technology allows the imagery to be reflected back on to the lenses so users can view them, all while being transparent enough to allow you to focus on the humans, trees, road block, or board room presentation ahead of you. Although it's easy to shrug gizmos like these off as gimmicky and unrealistic, we guess we'll have to see (ahem) for ourselves when these specs are demoed at CES.